By Danielle Arlotta, CFP®
Lead Planner, Brooklyn Plans
Many people come to us after a career change or promotion with questions on how to manage their accounts. Making more money doesn’t automatically make things easier. In fact, it often makes decisions more complex.
If you’re:
- Sitting on too much cash (and not sure what to do with it)
- Worried about layoffs or market swings
- Or just feeling unsure if you’re “doing it right.”
You don’t have to figure it out alone.
Let’s build a plan that actually fits your life.
Read the case study below to learn more about how we manage clients in similar situations.
*Name changed for anonymity.
Sasha came to us after a major promotion. Just a few years earlier, she was not able to save outside of the minimum in her 401(k). Now, she was earning significantly more and felt completely overwhelmed.
Where she started (the financials):
- Over $200K in her emergency fund
- Maxing out her 401(k)
- Company stock options worth over $100k
- Monthly surplus of about $2k
The Problem:
She didn’t feel confident or secure in her finances. She worried about layoffs, whether she’d have enough for retirement, and the opportunities she might miss because of that anxiety. Sasha knew that without a plan, she’d remain stuck in that cycle of worry.
The Recommendations:
- Keep a comfortable emergency fund (not excessive, not risky). For Sasha, this was a 9-month emergency fund of about $60k in a high-yield savings account.
- Created a steady plan to exercise and sell her employer’s stock over the course of two years to reduce overexposure.
- Max out tax-advantaged accounts (mega back door Roth, HSAs, IRAs) to reduce tax implications and possibly increase after-tax returns.
- Shifted idle cash into a diversified investment plan. This gave her peace of mind that she was not overexposed to one sector of the market.
- Created a flexible plan to fund mid-term goals such as travel, a wedding, and a home purchase without sacrificing her own long-term security.
Instead of reacting emotionally, we built a plan that could adapt so that she felt steady no matter what headlines popped up. Today, she’s still cautious, but more confident.
Want a quick gut-check on your own approach? We’ve put together a short quiz based on the real challenges our clients face when managing their investments.